(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lever switch including: a shaft projecting from a steering column of a mobile unit such as a motor vehicle; a push button provided at an end-side of the shaft; and a rotary switch provided in the middle of the shaft.
(2) Description of the Related Art
So far, as for a lever switch including: a cylindrical shaft which projects from a steering column attaching a steering wheel as a control means of a mobile unit such as a motor vehicle and controls a wiper function, washer function and so on; a push button attached to an end of the shaft; and a rotary switch provided in the middle of the shaft, the number of rotary switches has been increased to improve convenience by controlling various functions and the shaft itself is made rotatable so as to control the corresponding functions.
As an example of a lever switch for controlling various functions and for improving convenience, in an invention described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-57906, the lever switch includes: a rotary knob; a third lever which fixes the rotary knob to one end of the third lever and has an operation rod at an opposite end of the third lever; a second lever having a tube part which makes a shaft bar of the third lever pass therethrough; a first lever which makes the second lever pass therethrough; a fixed part being fixed to the first lever; and a fixed knob arranged at an end-side of the rotary knob. Further, a window hole is formed in an outer peripheral part of the fixed knob and a tab is formed projecting from the window hole so as to be slidably in an axial direction of the lever switch, thereby realizing an arrangement of a slide switch so as to increase the number of the switches and improve convenience.
However, in the invention described in Patent Publication 1, since a push button switch provided at an end of the lever switch is slidably fit to a knob-arranging hole of the fixed knob and a resilient locking piece is locked to a step part within the fixed knob through a restoring spring so as to be fixed integrally, therefore when the fixed knob is rotated, the push button also is rotated equally together with the fixed knob.
Therefore, in a case in which the push button switch consists of a plurality of push button switches, for example, by dividing its round shape into plural parts, if the fixed knob is rotated without operating the push button, the push button is rotated equally together with the fixed knob, resulting in that the arrangement of each push button is changed, causing a problem that an operator cannot operate by recognizing positions of the respective push buttons correctly.
If an operator confirms an end of the lever switch with his eyes and makes sure an arrangement of each push button every time when he operates the push button, an accident might happen if the operator is a driver of a motor vehicle.